David Daye Sleppy came from lines of ministers on both sides of his family. His father was Rev. David Daye Sleppy and his grandfather was Dr. Milton Jacob Sleppy, both Methodist ministers. On his maternal side, his mother Minnie Frances Sleppy was a lay minister in the Methodist Church. Her father was Rev. Richard Alfred Buzza, also a Methodist minister.
Dave was to attend Allegheny College, but his father died suddenly and David had to quit school and work to support his mother and brother, William Carroll Sleppy, II who was nine years younger. He learned the tool and die trade at Talon, Inc. and eventually became part of the management team. He worked at Talon until he retired.
Dave was born in West Springfield, Erie County, Pennsylvania and lived in numerous places as his father was assigned to various churches which included Polk, Linesville, and New Castle, PA. The latter was where Dave graduated from high school. He and Ruth Vernice McGill were married at Grace Methodist Church in Meadville, PA Nov 27, 1936.
Dave was active in various Masonic and Shrine lodges. He was an avid golfer known for his putting skills. His family was everything to him and always came first. Dave and Ruth were equally avid and excellent card players, but they refused to participate in Masters tournaments because of the time it would take away from the family. He was soft spoken, intelligent and very loyal to his friends of whom he had many lifelong friends.
Dave had been taught that a man’s word was everything, so he was extremely honest. In her memoirs Ruth told of him refusing to eat with friends who would not properly tip waitresses. One time he drove back to a restaurant (approximately 15 miles away) because he realized the waitress had given him an extra nickel in change!
Every afternoon when he came home from work, he would spend two hours giving his total attention to his children. For years he ran a small tool and die shop in his basement, but he would not start working there until he had spent time with the children and the family had finished their supper. When he felt Ruth was getting too stressed from her responsibilities, he would arrange for a baby sitter and take Ruth for a weekend break in Cleveland or Pittsburgh.
Over the years he had many opportunities to move with Talon. One time the company wanted to send him to Georgia for a few years. He and Ruth made a visit to the proposed future home and where greeted by the Sheriff who was the city welcoming committee. The Sheriff showed them the home the company had picked out for him. Dave asked to see the school his children would attend and was shown a beautiful new school for white students. When Dave asked where the black students went, he was shown a shack on stilts. He immediately told the Sheriff that this was not the environment in which he wanted to raise his kids and immediately went back to Meadville. It wasn’t until 1960 when Sue had finished her first year of college and David had finished his junior year of high school that Dave moved to Seymour to help manage a plant purchased by Talon. Both kids married and stayed in the state, but Dave and Ruth moved back to Meadville in 1962.
Dave died May 15, 1995 and is buried at Roselawn Cemetery in Meadville, Pennsylvania.

Alva C. “Bud” Spillman was Chief Train Dispatcher for B & O Railroad, which later became CSX. He served eight years on the Washington School Board and was Republican Precinct Committeeman for over twenty years. Alva C. “Bud” Spillman also served on the Washington Board of Zoning Appeals for twelve years and was active in both the Christ United Methodist Church and the Washington community.

Robert’s parents came to Indiana from Butler, Pennsylvania. Robert quit school after the fourth grade. He also lost an eye while chopping wood, but after marrying and having a family, he earned a degree in Civil Engineering.

Local citizens razzed him about leaving home at age 62 to build houses in Barrington, Illinois. He not only won contracts to build them, but his houses were featured in the Roto Gravure section of the Chicago Tribune.

After the banks failed in 1933, he made his home in Cincinnati, Ohio, with his daughter Margaret.

m/1. 12 June 1928, New York, New YorkClaude Crawford
b. 8 February 1896, Mooresville, Morgan County, Indiana, to George Philander and Jetty Francis (Carlisle) Crawford
d. 22 April 1980, Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana

m/2. 23 April 1970James Dray
b. 11 December 1899
d. 21 February 1986

Children with Claude Crawford:

Claude, Jr.

Virginia

The Spalls moved to Indiana in 1820. Samuel Spall bought a farm of 80 acres in Jackson County in 1821, and most of the family remained in the area. The great-grandson of Samuel was the father of Dorothy. Her mother was also from Jackson County, the Gassaways having moved to Clark County, Indiana from Maryland by way of Kentucky. Nicholas Gassaway built one of the first Methodist churches in Indiana.

Dorothy’s first husband worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad and the family moved 15 times, in and out of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan. Her second husband owned a wrecking company and a business that sold used materials from work sites.